The Insurance Coffee House with Nick Hoadley

On this episode of the Insurance Coffee House, Nick Hoadley is joined by Anne Arnold, Director of Talent Acquisition at Farmers Insurance®. With a career that began in the entertainment industry before moving into agency recruiting and eventually in-house talent acquisition, Anne shares how an unexpected career move led her into a profession she has now spent more than two decades building.Anne reflects on her transition from agency recruiting into corporate talent acquisition, first helping build the function from scratch at a real estate investment trust and later joining Farmers Insurance, where she has spent the last ten years. From establishing the executive recruiting capability to leading enterprise-wide talent acquisition, she shares how her role evolved and what has kept her excited about the opportunities within the insurance industry.Nick and Anne discuss the scale and complexity of hiring across a national organisation. Despite having a lean team, Farmers hires between 4,000 and 5,000 people annually, and Anne explains the processes, discipline, and technology that allow the team to manage more than 150,000 applications each year. She discusses how technology has helped improve efficiency and candidate engagement while reinforcing her belief that recruitment remains fundamentally a human business.The conversation explores how technology is being used behind the scenes to support recruiters, automate administrative tasks, and surface highly qualified candidates more quickly. Anne explains why understanding the problem you're trying to solve matters more than adopting technology for its own sake, and why recruiters should focus on using new tools to create more time for conversations, relationships, and better candidate experiences.Nick and Anne also discuss leadership, authenticity, and building strong partnerships. Anne shares her views on hiring leaders, working with external search firms, and the importance of listening, transparency, and creating environments where people feel comfortable sharing ideas and learning from mistakes. She reflects on the lessons she has learned as a leader and why trusting your own experience and using your voice are essential to professional growth.Connect with Anne Arnold on LinkedIn to follow her work in talent acquisition, leadership, and people development.The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.Copyright Insurance Search 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

On the Insurance Coffee House podcast, host Nick Hoadley welcomes Nick Wealthall, Founder of Yellow Door, a leadership and commercial growth consultancy helping insurance organisations and their people unlock performance through better communication, decision-making and mindset.Speaking from London, Nick shares his fascinating career journey from wealth management to professional poker, to comedy writing on shows like Have I Got News For You, before founding Yellow Door to coach senior executives across major insurance firms. With a background spanning finance, broadcasting, and entrepreneurship, Nick brings a unique perspective on how professionals can think and act more like business owners, whether they’re brokers, underwriters, or corporate leaders.He explains how lessons from the poker table translate directly to leadership and underwriting: making confident decisions with incomplete information, assessing risk and reward, and maintaining composure under pressure. Drawing parallels between poker, business and insurance, Nick highlights why the most effective leaders are those who embrace uncertainty, make active choices, and refine their process rather than fixating on short-term outcomes.Nick also discusses how brokers and carriers can drive commercial growth and differentiation in increasingly commoditised markets, by deepening client understanding, taking an “outside-in” perspective, and focusing on delivering long-term value rather than transactional wins. He shares practical insights on building trust-based client relationships, fostering entrepreneurial thinking inside large organisations, and leading with intention and self-awareness.In the Espresso Round, Nick reflects on his journey from performer to coach, offering lessons on humility, resilience and curiosity. He encourages insurance professionals to take ownership of their impact, ask “how can I help more?”, and build businesses that grow through genuine human connection.Connect with Nick Wealthall on LinkedIn and learn more about Yellow Door.The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.Copyright Insurance Search 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

On the Insurance Coffee House podcast, host Nick Hoadley welcomes Elyse Myrans, CEO & Co-Founder of Tenax ai, a climate-tech startup using computer vision and AI to protect homes and their insurability, from extreme weather.Speaking from Los Angeles, Elyse shares how Tenax ai delivers property-level risk assessments for wildfire, flood and wind in 20–30 minutes via a smartphone or drone, then ingests the imagery through proprietary models to detect hundreds of features (roof class, vegetation proximity, vent mesh, window type and more). She explains why forward-looking, parcel-level data outperforms regional, backward-looking models, and how Tenax ai’s outputs plug directly into carrier underwriting workflows (they provide the features and confidence, insurers keep their own pricing).Elyse also highlights the homeowner experience: tailored mitigation plans with prioritised actions and referrals to local vendors, removing “speed bumps to action” so customers can reduce risk, lower premiums over time, and even move properties back inside the band of insurability. She draws a useful analogy to telematics in auto insurance: dynamic, behavior/feature-based data enabling more accurate pricing and better outcomes for both carriers and policyholders.In the Espresso Round, Elyse discusses building a tech-insurance hybrid team, why empathy and trust are non-negotiables in startup culture, and offers candid advice for insurance leaders considering the shift to insurtech: get comfortable with the unknown, stay nimble, and keep your eye on what matters as conditions change.Connect with Elyse Myrans on LinkedIn and learn more about Tenax ai.The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.Copyright Insurance Search 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

On the Insurance Coffee House podcast, host Nick Hoadley welcomes Curtis Goldsborough, President of National Insurance Inspection Services and the creative mind behind the popular LinkedIn persona LO$$ RATIO.Curtis shares his unconventional journey into insurance, from agency owner in rural Michigan to leading a nationwide inspection company and becoming a viral content creator in the industry. He talks about his transition from traditional field inspections to a tech-driven self-inspection platform and how this innovation is reshaping property underwriting across personal lines.Curtis breaks down how National Insurance Inspection Services delivers greater data accuracy and underwriting insights through nearly one million policyholder-completed inspections, helping carriers improve risk assessment, pricing precision, and loss ratios.He also dives into the origins of LO$$ RATIO, his alter ego and content platform that blends education and humor to highlight major industry challenges, from predictive prevention and self-inspection adoption to social inflation and attracting new talent into insurance.In the Espresso Round, Curtis offers powerful advice for insurance executives and rising professionals on building authentic personal brands on LinkedIn, why creativity is a differentiator, and how content done right—can drive real industry change.Connect with Curtis Goldsborough on LinkedIn and explore National Insurance Inspection Services to learn more about their underwriting solutions.The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.Copyright Insurance Search 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

On this episode of The Insurance Coffee House, host Nick Hoadley welcomes Paige Maissonet, Chief People Officer at Newfront Insurance, to discuss her journey from HR generalist to CPO and how she’s helped shape one of the most forward-thinking cultures in insurance today.Paige shares her experience leading people strategy through massive growth, scaling Newfront from 150 to 800+ employees, and the company’s bold mission to modernize insurance through technology without losing its human touch.She explains how a values-driven culture, DEI commitment, and team empowerment have become Newfront’s competitive advantage. From custom tech platforms to employee ownership, Paige reveals how Newfront creates high-performance teams that care deeply about outcomes, and each other.Whether you're leading people, hiring, or considering a move into InsurTech, this episode is packed with practical insights on how to grow with purpose, build inclusive teams, and stay ahead in a fast-changing industry.Connect with Paige on LinkedIn, or visit Newfront to learn more. The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.Copyright Insurance Search 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

On the "Insurance Coffee House" podcast, host Nick Hoadley welcomes Joe Emison, the Co-Founder and CTO of Branch Insurance.Joe shares his unconventional journey from aspiring lawyer to serial tech entrepreneur, building six companies across industries before co-founding Branch, a full-stack carrier using cloud-native infrastructure to simplify personal lines insurance.He explains how Branch is tackling inefficiency in the home and auto markets by focusing on embedded distribution rather than traditional advertising-heavy acquisition strategies. Joe discusses how the company has built a lean, remote-first tech team, using junior talent trained in-house and modern tools to ship faster, reduce costs, and stay agile.Joe also explores the metrics that matter when building high-performing tech teams and shares practical advice for insurance leaders looking to work with, or invest in, insuretechs. His passion for growth, talent development, and cultural alignment offers a fresh take on what it means to build and lead in insurance today.Connect with Joe Emison on LinkedIn or learn more at Branch Insurance. The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights.Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram.Insurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda.Copyright Insurance Search 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

On the "Insurance Coffee House" host, Nick Hoadley welcomes Andy Moss, the CEO and co-founder of Send. Andy provides an insight into his 25-year career, starting in technical his accidental fall into the insurance industry in 2003 after a previous role at BBC Radio Music New Media. He gained broad insurance experience through roles with Xchanging (later acquired by CSC and merged into DXC), the Corporation of Lloyd's, and as a managing agent in the London Market.Andy shares the journey to launching Send alongside his two co-founders, to scratch the proverbial “entrepreneurial itch” in 2018. All with backgrounds as software developers, the initial focus of the platform was on data and integration. Send launched with its first customer in 2019.With clients across the London Market and in the US, the platform provides a variety of benefits. Andy highlights how Send helps bring insurance technology into the modern era, helping clients make better underwriting decisions by understanding the portfolio impact of individual submissions, improve operational efficiencies by automating digital paperwork and unstructured data management, and ensure compliance with rules and regulations.He discusses their business growth, particularly in the US market, noting the larger scale and different go-to-market approach compared to the concentrated London Market. Despite the differences, Andy emphasizes the common challenges in underwriting across both regions. Looking ahead at the next five years, Andy shares a "techie's angle" on evolution within the insurance market. He sees a continued drive to apply automation to increasingly complex product lines, building on the success of digital underwriting for simpler products. Andy discusses the rise of AI and the increasing use of data in underwriting, stressing the importance of 'operationalizing' and integrating new data sources and AI tools within the underwriting workflow to avoid creating more disconnected systems. With around 20% of Send’s 100-strong team having a background in insurance, Andy stresses that while insurance knowledge is valuable, they also value the diversity of backgrounds and different perspectives that employees bring. Andy uses the phrase "knowing the art of the possible" to describe the key combination of insurance expertise and technological understanding needed in the insurtech space.He advises insurance executives considering a move to insurtech to recognize the value they already add, particularly those focused on data, process, and automation opportunities. He suggests reflecting on their current skills and job functions and mapping that onto the requirements of insurtech roles, as well as networking at industry events. As closing advice, Andy urges people to "just get involved" in technology initiatives within the insurance industry to improve outcomes. Connect with Andy Moss on LinkedIn or find out more about Send. The Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights. Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or InstagramInsurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda. Copyright Insurance Search 2025 – All Rights Reserved.

On this episode of the Insurance Coffee House Podcast, we welcome Miranda Hunter, Head of Investor Relations at Fidelis Insurance Group. Miranda talks to Nick Hoadley about: her background and career journey, from being born and raised in Bermudareturning to Canada for university and joining KPMG moving back to Bermuda after her CPA exams, to join PWC Bermudathe pivotal career advice she was given of ‘being just as mindful of the company and the management team you're joining as of the role and the package you're accepting’taking a step back to get into the right role to match her longer-term career goalstransitioning through varied insurance roles, before joining Fidelis in December 2023the two distinct entities of Fidelis Insurance Group and the Fidelis PartnershipFidelis’s flat structure and the chance employees have to work on diverse projects and explore various aspects of the organizationbeing surrounded by colleagues whose company you genuinely enjoy, who support you, and are invested in your career growth the importance of mentorship and supporting those at the start of their careershow she gives back to the local Bermuda community  the advice she’d give to anyone looking to develop their career on island, and to those considering a move to Bermuda Connect with Miranda Hunter on LinkedIn or find out more about Fidelis Insurance GroupThe Insurance Coffee House Podcast is brought to you by Insurance Search.We are a global Insurance Executive Search Consultancy, supporting Insurance and Insurtech businesses to attract and retain the very best insurance talent.Find out more about showcasing your employer brand as a guest on the Insurance Coffee House Podcast or sign up to our News and Insights. Or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter or InstagramInsurance Executive Search Consultants in USA, London and Bermuda. Copyright Insurance Search 2025 – All Rights Reserved.